Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Emergence The Red Sith Saga, Part One
by OrangeGalen
Summary: The Separatists have staged several brilliant offensives, capturing several systems. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are tasked with recapturing the Bothan system, but things take a turn for the worse as a trap that has been set by a mysterious commander is sprung and both Jedi find themselves facing an unexpected deadly foe that could change the fate of the Clone Wars.
1. Prologue

This story is not cannon with the Star Wars franchise, but tries to stay close to the existing cannon (Wookipedia is a mess right now). I am a fan of the Clone Wars CGI show and this story has been in the works since season 2. I have recently dug it up and updated it for the end of season 5. This part takes place in-between the episodes "Tipping Points" and "The Gathering" of season 5. Around 20BBY.

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A crushing string of defeats! After several conflicts in the mid rim, the Separatists have dealt a grievous blow to the Republic by capturing several key systems including the Bothan sector. Now in control of the newly built Bothan shipyards, the Separatists will soon be able to build new warships to turn against the Republic, something that the Republic cannot afford. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent to combat the fleet surrounding the planet Bothawui, so Master Luminara Unduli can land on the surface and recapture the system to prevent a devastating fleet from being constructed….


	2. Chapter 1- Invasion Plans

Anakin Skywalker always preferred to be in the cockpit of a star fighter rather than on a bridge of a Star Destroyer. Dodging laser blasts and enemy fighters in his Delta-7B _Aethersprite_ Interceptor was one of the more exciting things about combat and where he felt he could change the course of the battle. However, the Jedi Order had been losing far too many Jedi over the course of the war and clone pilots were some of the finest in the galaxy, so Anakin was stuck on the bridge of the _Dauntless_ with his own padawan Ahsoka Tano.

The _Dauntless_, along with the _Firebird_ and the _Adamant_, were three of the cruisers in the Bothan operation. Their mission was to destroy or at least occupy the attention of the Separatist fleet so the rest of the Republic fleet, led by general Obi-Wan Kenobi, could retake the shipyards. They would rejoin the fleet soon after that battle started to aid them. General Luminara Unduli would land after the space battle with the ground force to combat the Separatist forces down on the planet. Anakin recalled that the Bothans eventually decided to ally with the Republic after the attempted Separatist invasion led by General Grievous. That invasion was foiled by an ingenious plan led by himself involving AT-TE walkers deployed on the asteroids surrounding the gas giant Golm to ambush the Confederate ships as they entered range.

After that battle, the Bothans saw that neutrality was not a sustainable goal for them and voted to end their neutrality over the personal preference of their senator, Polo Se'lab. They had also constructed their own shipyards to aid the Republic, although they requested that the shipyards only have Bothan personal. But now that time had passed and they were under Separatist control. Now Anakin has returned to protect the Bothans once again.

Anakin was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of his padawan's voice, "We're coming up on the Bothan system."

"Then let's get ready." He turned from the viewport and looked at Ahsoka. "Tell the fighters to prep for launch, and also tell Odd Ball he'll have to manage without me this time."

"I'm sure he'll do just fine without you." Ahsoka responded. "I'll patch you in to Master Kenobi so you can update him on our status."

Anakin nodded and Ahsoka tapped some controls. Soon, a near life size hologram of Obi-Wan was in front of Anakin. With his trademark business bluntness Obi-wan said "_Report_."

"We're inbound to Bothawui and should be arriving momentarily Master." Anakin always added "Master" not just because Obi-Wan was a member of the Jedi council, but also of the age-old habit of when he was an apprentice.

_"Good, my fleet is also inbound and should arrive shortly after yours to give the Separatists a chance to intercept your force before we strike."_

"Let's hope they like the bait we offer them." Anakin said jokingly.

_"Yes,"_ Obi-wan mused, _" the CIS should be rather keen on keeping these shipyards. Even smaller ones like this one can tip the war in either side's favor."_

"Well, lets do some tipping in our favor, Master." Ahsoka chimed in, walking to face the holo.

Obi-Wan's projection smirked, _"Quite right Ahsoka. Anakin, keep comm channels open in case any situations arise."_

"Of course Master." Anakin replied.

_"Oh, and do try to keep your ships in one piece this time will you?"_

"What do you mean 'this time'?" Anakin said with a hint of feigned ignorance.

Ahsoka glanced at her screen and interrupted "One minute till we drop out of hyperspace."

_"Very well. I'll leave you two at it. Kenobi out."_ And with that, the hologram disappeared back into the table as the projectors died down.

Anakin walked around the table and, crossing his arms, stared out of the viewport into hyperspace. The final moments ticked away before reentry into normal space. The clone crew was making last minute adjustments to their stations and giving orders to other clones. Anakin was in the center of it, giving off a firm aura of calm and determination. "The Hero with No Fear" as the holonet was fond of calling Skywalker. He had risked his life countless times to save the people under his command and defied the odds so often many considered it to be second nature. Now he was out to crush another Separatist force and bring this ever-growing war another victory closer to ending.

Ahsoka, from her position in the comm area had a clear view of Anakin. She never grew tired of how he could appear to be so calm yet always be ready to burst into action at a second's notice. Over the years that she has been his apprentice, she had grown to realize that Skywalker was a man of action. And that action usually resulted in a sizeable pile of scrap metal during battles. But she always had the feeling that Anakin was holding something back, and on the rare occasion it did slip. But those instances were very few and far apart. She understood and had figured it was just the individual Jedi's personality. Some Jedi, like Kit Fisto and Aayla Secura sometimes let their emotions out while others like the stoic Mace Windu kept them on a tight leash. Obi-wan Kenobi, Ahsoka had figured, was in the middle of the two ranges, neither completely detached nor emotionally involved. _The right balance,_ she thought. However, being around Skywalker for so long has had an influence on her and now she leans more to the emotional side. She didn't mind however, she liked it that way. She glanced at the chronometer on the screen, showing ten seconds left before reentry. "Ten seconds left." She announced. _Time to get to work_.


	3. Chapter 2- The Trap Has Sprung

The streaks of hyperspace faded into the blackness of space. Ahead of the _Dauntless_ lay the small glowing speck that was the planet Bothawui. Close by loomed Golm, its asteroid ring forming a giant disk in space. Anakin turned to Ahsoka and said "Any signs of Separatist activity?"

"Scanning." She replied. The results were puzzling. "I'm not detecting any Separatist ships between us and the planet."

"What?" Anakin said as he came over to look at the readings. "That doesn't make any sense." He muttered. Ships should be forming a blockade formation around the planet to protect it from invasion. "Expand your scans to the cover the entire system."

Ahsoka responded and widened the scans. "There does seem to be a large buildup of Confederate ships around sector 12." She paused. "Wait. Isn't that where the shipyard is?"

"Yes it is." Said Anakin, his voice growing quiet. Both Ahsoka and Anakin's eyes widened as they both realized what had happened. The enemy knew they were going to attack the shipyards and waited in ambush for the main Republic fleet.

Anakin turned and said to the navigations officer "Set a course to the shipyards, as fast as we can! _I'm not going to let them fall into a trap_, he thought, _at least not without me._ Try to get in touch with Master Kenobi. Maybe we can warn him before it's too late."

Ahsoka punched in the comm, but all she got was a loud crackle of static. "Our communications are being jammed!"

"How? There aren't any ships near enough to block our signal." Anakin exclaimed. He turned to look out the viewport to find the source of the jamming. The three cruisers were passing over the asteroid belt when Anakin noticed something. One of the asteroids started glowing with lights. Then it started moving. "Over to the port! A Banking Clan Frigate!" As he said that, the prow turbolaser of the frigate fired and impacted on the shields of the _Firebird_ causing minimal damage, but shook the ship. Then all hell broke loose.

On board the CIS frigate, droids were manning their stations with rapt attention. The tactics of their captain were beyond their processor's ability to fully grasp, but they executed the orders quickly and without question. The captain had a violent dislike for slow battle droids. If any of those were found in his ranks, they tended to disappear and be replaced. And those were quickly replaced and similarly discarded if they in turn failed. A Super tactical droid, designated RW-47, with red trimmings stood watch over these droids, supervising them and checking their work. "There are three Republic ships. The right number that we need for your plan to work, my lord." It said in a heavy mechanical voice.

"Yes it is RW." A voice coming from the commander's chair hissed. "Now, execute phase two. Destroy one ship, damage another, and capture the final one. Just like how I planed out. "

"Yes sir." RW turned to the communications droid and told it, "Tell the boarding craft and the fighters to take off and follow their flight plans."

"Rodger Rodger." The droid said. RW looked out the viewport at the three Republic ships. Droid fighters and boarding craft took off from their positions in the asteroids and headed for the ships, following their instructions.

"Sir!" called the clone navigation officer as his screen started glowing with red, "Multiple contacts closing fast!" As the officer spoke a wing of Vulture droids flew past escorting a trio of boarding craft headed to the _Adamant_. Just then, an impact shook the _Dauntless _and forced the bridge crew to grab hold of something for balance. Vulture droids, now swarming en-masse were firing on the _Dauntless_, inflicting damage and lowering shield strength. Just then, the CIS frigate fired another salvo at the _Firebird_, this time blowing a chunk out of the bow armor of the ship.

Anakin hit the communications to all ships, "All Republic crews, launch all fighters, repeat, launch all fighters!" He watched as the ships responded and the _Venator_ Class Star Destroyers started to open their trademark dorsal flight deck doors. ARC-170's and V-wings departed from the fight deck. Over half of the first waves were picked off by Vulture droids and Tri-fighters, but the survivors managed to take off and engage the droids, creating a window for the next waves of fighters to get into position. A fierce dogfight soon raged out in space with both sides exchanging fire.

However, as the _Firebird_ was about to launch its third wave of fighters, an impact from a squad of crashing Tri-fighters momentarily weakened the shields surrounding the flight deck. Before the ship could re-route power, the CIS frigate fired directly into the ship, blowing a hole clean through the _Firebird's _flight deck and several other decks. As power flickered throughout the ship, an entire wing of Vulture droids changed course and flew directly into the bridge of the _Firebird_, destroying everyone in that section. The ship gave one last spasm and all power died. The CIS frigate then fired on the _Firebird_ for a fourth time and destroyed it, cutting the Republic's fleet power down by a third. Anakin and Ahsoka watched with horror as the ship turned into a fireball, killing everyone on board.

"Turbolaser crews, target the frigate!" Anakin ordered and a volley of blasts hit the frigate. "Where did all those fighters come from?"

"I don't know sir." Replied one of the clone commanders. "We were passing over the asteroid field when they suddenly were on us."

"They must have used the asteroids as cover and attacked when we were close enough." Anakin said. He had made a tactical blunder, rushing into a fight that was not planed. And now the crew of the _Firebird_ was dead. Anakin mentally kicked himself for being so blind, but then he remembered Obi-Wan's lesson: "_Keep your mind in the here and now."_ Anakin, following his mentor's advice activated his communicator and said, "Odd Ball, do you copy? What's the situation out there?"

_"General Skywalker."_ The voice of the clone commander replied over the comm. _"We have a bit of a problem, sir. A group of landing craft are attempting to board the Adamant. We shot two ships down, but more slipped in and we're getting hammered out here. Give us a few minuets then we can gain the upper hand."_

"Very well. Skywalker out." Anakin put down his communicator. The bridge shook again as a squad of Tri-fighter missiles impacted on their rapidly deteriorating shields. Bright flashes of light lit up space when fighters were destroyed as the two sides fought. Fighters were blown into molecular atoms by stray laser blasts, and pilots scrambled to gain a better position behind the enemy.


	4. Chapter 3- The Battle is Joined

**Hey Readers, here is the third chapter in this story. This part basically sets up a big confrontation between the Separatist Commander and Anakin/Ahsoka that will be coming up soon. I'm thinking about uploading a chapter every other day because I'm impatient and want to get it out. I'm also working on getting a cover of the story, but it won't be up for a few chapters. Anyway early Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy!**

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Back on the bridge of the CIS frigate, the captain watched the battle play out with a small smile playing across his face. Not only was this going exactly as he planned, but those ships were part of the Open Circle Fleet under the command of Skywalker and Kenobi. The odds were that one of them was on board one of those ships. _Hopefully not the one we just destroyed,_ he thought, _because that would be a shame, to die so pitifully. _As the battle progressed, he recalled how those ships charged into his trap so easily. _So blinded they were to help the rest of their fleet, they ignored what was around them. It has to be Skywalker commanding these ships and Kenobi with the rest of the fleet. And with my plan, I'm bound to run into Skywalker._ That thought gave the commander a grin as he stroked the weapons on his belt. _Skywalker… the Chosen One. With such power he had the potential to be a great Sith if it weren't for the Jedi. _He paused as another thought crossed his mind. _Perhaps he still can be. _

RW-47 came over to him. "My lord, scans of the Republic's comm channels have confirmed that General Skywalker is onboard the Republic ship."

"Yes I know." The captain said with impatience. "Why do you think they charged right into our trap? Skywalker is impulsive, reckless, but above all, he values the lives under his command. Not your typical Jedi to say the least about him." He leaned back in his chair, the hood still covering his face. "General Skywalker is not your concern. Leave him to me." The frigate shook as a direct hit pierced part of their shields. The commander growled. CIS frigates were plentiful and great in large numbers, but a single ship cannot stand up to two Republic ships at once. He was taking a gamble, but he needed all of the ships in the sector to counter the Republic fleet at the shipyards, and with his strategies, the battle would soon turn in his favor. Then he could turn to other pressing agendas.

The _Dauntless_ and the _Adamant_ were trading fire with the lone CIS frigate. Now without the element of surprise, the battle was shifting in favor to the Republic as the _Venator_ class ships proved their superior firepower against the Banking Clan frigate. More and more ARC fighters were surviving the fierce dogfight as the number of droid fighters began to diminish, the clones proving once again that they are superior pilots to droids. Ahsoka was hard at work relaying and listening to the comm chatter amongst the fight. Anakin was coordinating the battle, giving orders and making sure his ship stayed intact. Just then, the lights over on the _Adamant_ flickered and the engines shut down. Ahsoka then received an emergency message from the captain of the _Adamant_.

"Master," she called to Anakin, "the _Adamant_ just lost power. Boarding parties have succeeded in cutting main power to the _Adamant_ and now she's operating on emergency battery power. They need a few minutes to repair their systems."

"They might not have a few minutes." Anakin said. "Look." Outside, the CIS frigate had started to head to the _Adamant_, firing its prow turbolaser at it. The ship would not be able to take much more of the fire; already chunks of the _Adamant's_ armor were being blasted off. What saved it from the same fate as the _Firebird_ was that their hanger doors were closed having launched all their fighters. But that would only protect them for so long. "Move us between the frigate and the _Adamant_." Anakin ordered. "We should be able to draw its fire to protect the _Adamant_ for now." The _Dauntless_ moved forward, continuously firing at the frigate. Strangely, the CIS frigate had not fired back, only targeting the _Adamant_ and the fighters around both ships, completely ignoring the _Dauntless_.

By now the _Dauntless_ had almost moved between the two ships, and a large portion of the Confederate fighters had been eliminated. "This battle is almost over." He told Ahsoka as he moved next to her. "Keep trying to get in touch with Obi-wan. We need to warn him before he arrives in the trap."

"I'll say this, the Separatists seem to finally have a competent military leader." Ahsoka smirked. "They used the same trick you did by hiding their ship and their fighters in the asteroids to avoid detection."

"Yes, I know. Whoever he is must have read up on past battles and is a seasoned strategist." Anakin admitted. "The commander is probably the one who has designed those victories for the Confederacy recently."

The comm hissed and Ahsoka exclaimed, "I've got a signal! It's weak though, so make it brief."

Anakin turned to the holo projectors and a garbled picture of Kenobi appeared. "Obi-wan, the Confederate fleet is not orbiting the planet. They're all protecting the shipyard. You're flying into a trap!"

_"Say again Anakin, your transm-… unclear."_ Obi-wan said, interrupted by a burst of static.

"You're flying into a trap, master!" Anakin shouted. Halfway through his sentence, the image of Kenobi disappeared entirely. Anakin looked up just as the entire bridge crew gasped in alarm. The CIS frigate, which was heading toward the _Adamant_, was suddenly extremely close to the _Dauntless_ having performed an amazing ninety-degree turn in just a few seconds. Collision alarms sounded due to the close proximity of the frigate. Having pulled up next to the _Dauntless_, the frigate then extended its boarding port, cutting through the hull of the Republic ship. Collision alarms quickly changed tone as the intruder alarm sounded, and messages of droids onboard started flooding in.

Anakin turned and stared to run out of the bridge. "Come on Ahsoka!" He said as the doors parted and he ran through. Ahsoka was only too happy to oblige, running after her master to confront the droids.

RW-47 had moved down with the boarding parties to coordinate their attack. The goal was to kill every last Republic officer on both ships, starting with this one. They would then pilot the ships into the shipyard battle and obliterate the Republic fleet in a surprise attack. Since the frigate and the Republic ship were currently so close together, they could not fire on each other without risk of damaging themselves. This same reason was also what prevented the fighters from firing on either ship. Once takeover was complete, the captain would disembark and assume control over this Republic ship. The order would be given to the Republic fighters to dock in their home vessel, and then the droids awaiting them would slaughter them, preventing anyone from giving away the attack. Then they would destroy their own frigate to give the assumption that the Republic forces won the battle. Another attack force would take over the other Republic ship and they would head into the space battle.

As the boarding door opened, RW-47 noted the intense fire that greeted them. The first wave of droids and most of the second were wiped out. But the third and consecutive groups sustained less and less casualties as they forced the clones back. "Soon this ship will be ours." RW said. The droids around it gave off identical "Rodger Rodger's" which then proceeded to spread around like a wave among the other droids. RW gave off a passible vocalization of an organic sigh before marching on board the Republic ship.

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**What do you think will happen next? Which side will get the better of the other? You'll find out soon!**


	5. Chapter 4- Change of Pace

**Hey readers! I couldn't resist uploading another chapter today, so here it is. I'm just about to go to a friend's for Thanksgiving so I'm frantically trying to get this up before I go. Anyway, enjoy your food!**

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"So what's the plan master?" Ahsoka said as the two Jedi raced through the corridors of the _Dauntless_ to the docking port. Clone troopers were barely able to contain the droids as they poured in, and would not be able to hold the line for long. Already isolated squads of droids had been detected on other decks and were being countered.

"Our plan is to fight our way through the droids and find the commander of that ship. Then we decide from there." Anakin responded. Ahsoka nodded, knowing that they had two choices at that juncture: either capture the commander or kill him. As a Jedi it is wrong to kill unarmed opponents, but some situations in battle don't allow for that option. This is were the Jedi walk the thin line between heroes and war criminals, those split second decisions on the battlefield.

As the two went on the sounds of blaster fire got louder until they rounded a corner and ran right into a fire fight between clones and droids. The droids were taking casualties but they were still advancing through sheer numbers. However this all changed when Anakin and Ahsoka showed up. Without missing a beat, both of them activated their lightsabers: Anakin with his single blue lightsaber and Ahsoka with her normal green lightsaber and a smaller yellow-green shoto, both held in the Shien reverse grip. Charging right into the center of the droids, deflecting blasts with their lightsabers back into the droids that fired them, the two Jedi made short work of those droids.

After vertically slicing the last droid from the top-down, Anakin went over to the leader of these clones, Captain Rex. "How bad is it Rex?"

"It's pretty bad, sir." The clone answered as he holstered his pistols. "From what I've heard, the droids are starting to push past our defenses and are spreading out all over the ship. They've practically taken over the docking port. There are still a few men down there including ARC trooper Fives, but their position is vulnerable to a full on attack."

Anakin hurriedly turned from Rex. "I'm going down there to help our men. After that, I'm going to board that frigate and see just whom we are dealing with. Round up as many men as you can. Our rally point will be in the docking port. Understand?"

Rex snapped to attention. "Yes sir!"

"Very good. Come on Ahsoka, we still got plenty of work left to do."

"Happy to oblige." She said with a smile. Anakin gave a small smile of his own and they both started for the docking bay along with Rex and his company.

The droids had forced the clones in the docking bay to retreat, and more droids were coming onboard when RW's internal transmitter was signaled. "What is it?" RW asked.

A battle droid commander's vocalizer responded, "Sir, two Jedi are making their way to your position. We can't stop them." The transmission was cut of with the sound of the droid screaming and the hum of a lightsaber.

Before RW could respond the captain's voice came over all droid frequencies, _"This is the captain. All droids are to avoid direct contact with the Jedi. Instead, let them board the ship and lead them to me. Eliminate any stragglers they bring."_ His voice cut off.

"You heard the captain," RW-47 said to the droids around him, "vacate the area. The Jedi are logically going to try to board from this point." The droids heeded its orders and either moved deeper into the Republic ship or back onto their own ship, whichever was closer. RW remained on the Republic ship to continue the captain's previous orders. As the droid moved, there was a change of pitch in the battle as a humming sound entered his audio receptors. Recognizing that sound as that of a lightsaber, RW quickly made his exit deeper into the Republic ship.

Several corridors and piles of wrecked droids later, Anakin and Ahsoka rushed into the docking bay. Behind them was a group of about thirty clones that they had rounded up from various fights, about two battle groups worth. The decks of the _Dauntless _were swarming with battle droids and it was taking everything the crew had to offer to hold them back. It was estimated that there were over several thousand droids onboard and all personal were assigned to combat duty. Anakin and Ahsoka managed to cut down the number of droids and had rescued several fire teams that were close to being overrun. Now the _Dauntless_ was putting up more of a resistance against the droids, but there was still a long ways to go before an outcome could be determined.

But as they entered the docking bay, only the bodies of dead clones and destroyed droids greeted them instead of the blaster fire they expected. After a quick scan Ahsoka spotted a group of droids exiting through a door on their far left. "Look! Over there, a Super tactical droid!"_ If we could capture it_, she thought, _we could learn about the Separatists' plans and turn them against them. _

Anakin had he same thought. "Rex, take these men and capture that tactical droid. It may hold the key to stopping the Separatists."

"On it sir." He replied. "Come on!" he motioned to the troopers and they set off in pursuit of the droids. They quickly got to the door and entered leaving the two Jedi alone.

"Now it's our turn." Anakin said to Ahsoka. As they walked to the boarding ramp, a side door opened. Both of them shifted their lightsabers in preparation for an attack, but instead of droids, it was a group of clones.

"General Skywalker, Commander Tano." The clone called Fives said. "We didn't hear any noise coming from here, so we thought we try to re-establish our position before more droids showed up." He pointed to a once elaborate barricade that was now pretty beat up.

"Looks like you were down here since the fight started." Ahsoka said.

"Yes sir. We had one hell of a fight."

"Good job Fives." Anakin said to the ARC trooper. "Now I want you to take these troopers and go through that door over there." He said pointing to the door Rex just went through. "You'll meet up with Captain Rex who is pursuing a Super tactical droid. I think he may need your help."

Fives nodded. "Always happy to blast some droids sir." He said, and then started off towards the door with the rest of the clones behind him.

"Let's go master. We have a commander to catch." Ahsoka said.

Anakin nodded his head and they resumed boarding the CIS frigate.

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**Cover coming soon! Until then, what will they find onboard?**


	6. Chapter 5- Counter-Plan

**Hey-oh! Here's a new chapter for you readers! I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving like I did, so now Christmas can finally start! (For some it started close to three weeks ago...) Anyway, here's the chapter!**

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On board the CIS frigate Anakin and Ahsoka were confronted with…nothing. There was not a singe droid in sight. Expecting to be ambushed at any moment, both of them kept their lightsabers activated and raised.

"Where is everyone?" Ahsoka asked.

"I don't know. Maybe all the droids already passed through." Anakin responded.

Ahsoka looked around warily. "I don't like this this master."

"Neither do I Ahsoka." At that, they both continued their trek through the ship, moving slowly to avoid rushing into an ambush. Using schematics they had memorized, they attempted to make their way to the bridge. They were about 3 decks away when they encountered their first squad of droids. It happened by chance, several maintenance droids had walked right out of a door on their right. In a flash, all of them were in pieces on the deck plates.

"How many droids run this place again?" Ahsoka asked. "Because it seems there is a lack of any sort of crew here."

"Normally there is a running crew of 200." Anakin answered. "But ships like these can carry up to 150,000 deactivated droids." Both of them paused.

"Let's hope there aren't that many, otherwise the _Dauntless_ is not going to make it out of here." Ahsoka said.

"Let's keep moving." Both of them resumed their search at a more urgent speed.

On board the _Dauntless_, Captain Rex and his squad had almost caught up with the droids they were pursuing. Firefights inside the ship were slowing as both sides found places to bunker down. Thankfully, the bridge and engine room had not been taken as both sections had an entire clone company apiece defending them. Several decks however had been damaged due to several severe encounters. Some floors had collapsed onto lower decks, forming makeshift ramps that aided and hindered both sides, transforming the nature of the battle. Blaster marks were in almost every corridor and there were groups of destroyed droids and dead clones everywhere.

Rex had passed one such battle scene where the celling had collapsed when he spotted one of the last battle droids of the group he was pursing go around a corner. He motioned for his squad to form up and they continued their chase. They got around the corner and were confronted with a four-way passageway. They had little time to decide which way to go when Rex's head was almost shot off from the right side. As he ducked and returned fire, one of his men behind him was shot from the left. Rex realized that they had been led into a bad position and called out "Fall back!" His men then took up firing positions in doorways and around the corners shooting at the droids on both sides of the corridor. Rex shot a droid right next to the tactical droid and had to duck as the droid fired at him. As he ducked behind the corner, Rex thought, _Well this is just great. _

From behind a line of droids, RW-47 fired his blaster at the clones. Upon reaching this four-way passage, he ordered his troops to split into two groups, thereby attacking the clones on two sides when they reached them. Droid communications were getting more chaotic as they encountered more and more resistance. RW needed to coordinate their takeover, but didn't have the time with these clones on its trail. As soon as these clone were eliminated, RW would continue with the invasion plan. A battle droid got blasted apart right next to RW, who then fired at the clone who shot it. The clone with blue decals ducked behind the wall as the blaster bolts put two holes in the wall. Droids on the other end of the hall were also taking hits, but the clones were out maneuvered as they were getting hammered from two sides. _It's only a matter of time before the clones are eliminated_. RW thought.

Fives and his small squad of troopers reached the hallway behind where the fight was taking place. Hearing the blaster fire, he decided that a frontal confrontation would result in more casualties than he was confortable with. Looking around, Fives saw a collapsed ceiling leading to another deck. A plan emerged in his mind.

"Alright," he said to his troopers, "we can go smack right into the fight and win, but I have an easier plan. Shots, Nathan, and Rath," pointing to each clone as he called their name, "You three see if there is another collapsed section that leads behind those droids. Maybe we can ambush them and take them in a crossfire. Contact me if you find anything."

"Yes sir." Shots responded, then the three clones went up the makeshift ramp and disappeared from sight. Fives waited and listened to the battle ahead making sure that the DC-15 blasters that the clones had kept firing. His patience was rewarded a minute later when Shots opened up his comm. _"Sir, there's an opening dropping down behind the droids on the left side of your position."_

"Copy that Shots, the rest of us are coming." Fives said. "Come on! Let's move!"

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**This chapter sets up a lot of conflicts: the clones v.s the droids, and probably Anakin/Ahsoka v.s the enemy commander. Any ideas who he is yet? If not, you'll find out next chapter, along with a cover for this story! Keep reading, it's not over yet.**


	7. Chapter 6- First Duel (Part One)

**Hey readers!, New Chapter and Cover Image! I drew the cover myself then edited in the title. I plan to do this for all the books in this series.**

**Now for the chapter, this is the moment you've been waiting for. Anakin/Ahsoka will finally meet the commander of the Separatists, either in this chapter or the next. They will _not_ have a fun time with him. So read on and see for yourself!**

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On the frigate, Anakin and Ahsoka were almost to the bridge. They needed to make several detours after finding their hallway blocked by a ray shield. _Almost like we're being herded,_ thought Ahsoka. "I have a bad feeling about this." She said. Anakin didn't respond, but Ahsoka knew he was thinking it as well. Passing by a ray-shielded hole in the hull, probably created by turbolaser blast from the battle, they crossed the hallway to the door leading to the bridge. "This is it master." Ahsoka said.

Anakin, whose attention had been wandering, was called back by Ahsoka's statement. Shaking his head to clear it, he answered, "Yes it is." His hand reached out to activate the door panel but then he was suddenly overtaken by a wave of dark energy. His outstretched hand seemed to stretch and the door get further away, the edges of his vision clouding. He reeled back, shaken. Ahsoka noticed and was about to ask what the matter was when she felt it too. Her vision turned almost to black and she almost lost her balance, taking several steps backwards. As their vision cleared they sensed something else. Danger! There was only a microsecond warning through the Force; the slight humming of the ray-shield disappeared and the hallway was suddenly exposed to the vacuum of space.

Still staggering from the onslaught of dark power, Anakin and Ahsoka barely had time to react. Grabbing onto a durasteel pipe attached to a wall, Anakin reached out to Ahsoka. Ahsoka reached back, but just before she could grab his hand, the vacuum pulled her away towards empty space. Then an emergency door slammed shut in front of Anakin.

"No!" He shouted. As the segment he was in re-compressed, Anakin brought his lightsaber on the emergency door, cutting through the durasteel. Before he could cut all the way through, the bridge door opened and a squad of super battle droids marched out.

"There's the Jedi. Blast him!" One of them said, then they opened fire.

Anakin was forced to stop his progress cutting through the door and bat away the blaster bolts. "I don't have _time_ for this!" he shouted and Force-pushed the droids back into each other, toppling them. With a pause in the battle, Anakin reached out with the Force to sense where Ahsoka was. Relieved, he felt her in the Force, still alive, but that dark presence was closer now. _I need to get to Ahsoka now! _ He thought. As the undestroyed battle droids stood up, more started coming through the bridge door. "I don't have time for this!" Anakin repeated and jumped right into a droid bringing it down and stabbing it through the center. He diagonally sliced another, then turned away from the droids and made a quick 'X' cut in the door. Gathering the Force, he blasted it open only to be confronted by another door. Anakin, his impatience growing rapidly faced the growing number of battle droids.

Ahsoka tumbled into oblivion. The rapidly decompressing hallway blew her ever closer to the hole into space. Emergency doors were closing just ahead and around her, shutting off any escape from the void. Slightly panicked, Ahsoka reached out for anything that she could grab. There was nothing even close. _No, not like this! _She thought. Just as she was about to be sucked out into space, the ray-shield flared back on. Ahsoka hit the shield with a grunt and bounced off of it, back onto the floor. As she shakily stood up, she was almost overcome by that dark presence as it enveloped her.

"What the…" An image of the padawan Kalifa dying on the moon of Wasskah by Trandoshan hunters was stirred up; another of Steela's broken body after falling to her death on Onderon. Flashes of memories were being stirred up, and it felt like someone else was inside her mind, attempting to shift through them. Ahsoka concentrated and managed to force the intruder out and blocked her mind from any more attacks. "Only a skilled Force user can do that." She muttered.

"Very astute, young Jedi." A low male voice said.

Ahsoka whirled around and was confronted by a figure in a black robe. A hood covered his face leaving it in shadow, and there were many weapons around the man's belt including, Ahsoka noted, a lightsaber on his left side. She ignited her own two. "Who are you?" she demanded.

The figure chuckled. "Your death, Jedi." As he said that, he reached over to his right side and unsheathed a sword. Ahsoka stared at it, fully expecting the man to use his lightsaber. The man saw this slight look of confusion on her face and decided to amuse this little Jedi before he killed her. "You like it? It's from an ancient tradition dating back several millennia. It's an impressive weapon, as you are about to find out." He rushed forward and attacked with an overhead slice. Ahsoka dodged and countered with a quick swipe at the man's feet. Instead of jumping like she expected, the man brought his blade down, stabbing it into the deck plating effectively blocking her lightsabers. Ahsoka quickly aimed an attack at his head and followed up with two horizontal slashes which were blocked by the sword. She did a backflip and kicked out with her legs, which made contact with his chest and elicited a grunt from the figure. Ahsoka then backed up to give herself some room, her lightsabers coming in front of her to form a defensive posture.

_A blade that can block a lightsaber?_ she wondered. At the Jedi Temple she had read about certain weapons that were able to block lightsabers, and even some could deflect blaster shots. But those weapons were hardly ever used anymore due to obsoleteness and they were only rarely found, and very expensive. She looked up at the man. Beneath the hood there was a glitter of the eyes underneath it. As the man came at her again, she used the Force to push him back. He used the Force to hold his ground, but the push did blow back his hood. Ahsoka gasped. She had never seen his species before. His skin was red as blood and his face had a pair of tendrils coming down from his cheeks. His eyes glowed a furious yellow and his hair was as black as the space outside. The figure gave a feral grin at seeing Ahsoka react. "Who are you?" She asked in surprise.

The figure responded. "I am called Darkover and I'm from a species that has haunted the Jedi's nightmares for thousands of years." He lunged forward, his blade aiming for Ahsoka's gut. She blocked the blow with her shoto and spun around, using her momentum to power her attack at Darkover. He ducked and was forced to block again as Ahsoka's shoto came up at his face again. "I see your master has trained you well." He stepped back then gave two vicious blows at Ahsoka. She ducked past the first one and used both her lightsabers to block his sword. Darkover leaned closer over their locked swords; "I wonder how he will react once I've killed you." then shoved forward and then used his right hand to violently Force push Ahsoka into the bulkhead.

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**Ahsoka is not in a good position right now. Can she hold her own until Skywalker gets there, or will she meet her untimely demise at Darkover's hands? The next few chapters will have answers but until then, you will have to wait to find out!**


	8. Chapter 7-First Duel (Part Two)

**Hey-oh! This is close to the halfway point in the story, so there is still a ways to go yet, but the action is happening NOW! Ahsoka can't hold her own for long and Anakin is racing to get to her, but will he get there in time to save her? Read on!**

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Over half of the clones had fallen and the droids were still pressing relentlessly on Rex's troopers. They had held off the droids until now, but with so few clones, Rex had little time left. Another trooper got hit behind him and the doorway he was taking cover in was partially melted. The Super Tactical Droid was still standing and was giving orders to the droids. _This needs to end now!_ Rex thought. He shot another droid and was interrupted by a comm signal.

_"Fives to Captain Rex, need a hand?"_

"Fives, is that you?" Rex said into his helmet comm. "We need to capture a Tactical Droid. Can you help us?"

"Way ahead of you." Fives said from his position. He was right above the droids on Rex's left looking down through a hole in the deck plates. He turned to his troopers giving the signal to drop down. Fives dropped through the hole and landed on battle droid. He blasted it, and then rolled out of the way for the next clone to descend. Soon there was a hole in the droid's ranks as Five's troopers cleared them out at close range. Rex chose this opportunity to gather his troopers and attack the droids on the right. Now having their backs covered, Rex's clones made short work of these droids.

Fives saw the Super Tactical Droid retreating. "No you don't." he muttered. He rushed the droid and brought his gun to bear. He shot the blaster out of the droid's hand and then grabbed it by the head. Using all his strength, he ripped off the head of RW-47. Its photoseptors briefly glowed, then died. Fives stood there holding the head, the rest of the droids easily dispatched by the clones.

"Good of you to join us." Rex said to Fives.

"Wouldn't miss it." Fives tossed the head to Rex. "This what you're looking for?"

"Yes it is. Lets take this to the lab so we can get its intel."

Fives moved so he was at point. "Lets go to the bridge instead. It's more secure there." The clones moved off with their valuable cargo, avoiding the dwindling number of firefights on the _Dauntless_ as the droids were pushed back.

Anakin was near the end of his patience. Droids were still coming out of the bridge and he felt Ahsoka coming closer to disaster. He reflected a shot back at a droid and blocked another one. Retreating towards another emergency door, he placed his back foot against it. Then, gathering the Force, he launched himself over the droids at the bridge. Instead of entering, he used the Force to slam it shut, then melted the controls with his lightsaber. Now with the droid reinforcements cut off, the remaining droids stood no chance. "All right, you asked for it." Moving swiftly among them, Anakin was a whirling blue blur of plasma as he unleashed devastation on the droids. Soon they were all sparking pieces of metal on the floor. Not pausing to catch his breath, Anakin immediately started cutting through the next door. _Come on Ahsoka. I know you're strong. Just wait a little more._

Darkover approached the stunned Jedi. _It's such a shame she has to die. She fights with such passion, _He thought. "Oh well," he said aloud, "so it ends." He brought up his sword for a coup-de-grâs. Ahsoka, who was faking, chose that moment to ignite her lightsaber and swing at his face. Caught by surprise, Darkover flinched and leaned back to avoid the blow. Ahsoka then jumped over his head igniting her shoto and swung downwards with it. Darkover, with his blade still partially raised from before, used it to block her swipe. Using their blades as a platform, Ahsoka sailed over Darkover landing behind him. She then made a quick attack at his back, which Darkover blocked with his sword blindly held behind his back, then jumped at him, twirling both her body and blades. Darkover blocked this attack, but this time it was he who retreated. "Impressive use of Ataru. I also sense some Djem So in your style Jedi. No doubt your master taught you well."

"I can take you any day, red boy." She taunted.

Darkover chuckled. "Can you now?" He raised his right hand and then unleashed a blast of force lightning. Ahsoka partially blocked this attack, a few bolts painfully shocking her body. Grimacing from the pain, Ahsoka stood her ground against the lightning attack, waiting it out. Darkover terminated the lightning and rushed forward with a horizontal slash from the left. Ahsoka blocked, but was forced to give ground due to the power of the blow. Darkover pressed his advantage and continually attacked with a series of powerfully quick sweeps and jabs. Ahsoka blocked and dodged each attack from the sword, but caught some physical blows when Darkover landed a punch in her ribs and hit her on the side of her head with the sword pummel. Fully on the defensive, Ahsoka backtracked until her back was against a wall.

_Not good,_ she thought. The sword came at her head again so she leaned to her right and the blade just missed her head, cutting a large slash in the wall. _That was too close, I need to get away from him before his superior strength overpowers me._ Having just dodged the blow to her head, she rolled over to her left, out and away from Darkover.

_Big mistake youngling._ Darkover thought. As she was rolling, Darkover used the Force to accelerate Ahsoka's roll causing her to slam into the opposite wall with a loud bang. She cried out in pain and crumpled on the floor, her lightsabers clattering as they rolled away, deactivated. "Well this seems familiar. Lets finish this." He raised his right hand again and clenched it. Ahsoka rose into the air, her neck being squished by the Force. She starting gasping for breath and grasping her neck in a vain effort to loosen Darkover's Force choke. Red spots were forming in her vision, which melted together to make Darkover's face seem larger and distorted. Sensing victory, Darkover let go of the Force choke and raised his sword for a final blow. Ahsoka collapsed on the floor again and started to black out. She was defenseless if Darkover attacked. Ahsoka saw the blade raised and knew the end was near so she gave in and fell unconscious, her eyes closed. The blade started its descent. Suddenly a blue blade of plasma intercepted the sword.

"You will not hurt her."

Darkover looked to his right at his new adversary in surprise. "Well now, looks like the Chosen One has finally decided to show up." The two broke away and got into their respective stances.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**This is it, Darkover v.s Anakin. Who will win, and how? Do Anakin and Ahsoka stop the Separatist fleet and defeat Darkover, or will they be the ones defeated? Find out!**


	9. Chapter 8- The Stage is Set

**Hey readers! We are now officially over half-way through the story! I want to take a moment and say "Thank you" for taking the time to read this. **

**O.K, that was that moment, now back to the story. Anakin had just reached Ahsoka and had confronted Darkover for the first time. Now they will square off against one another to see who will win the second Battle of Bothawui (yes that's still going on, don't forget about Obi-Wan)[heh, that rhymed]. Anyway, read on!**

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Anakin was almost through the last door when suddenly he felt Ahsoka's Force presence wane. "No!" he said. He started cutting with renewed energy. As a section of the door fell over, Anakin rushed through just in time to see a man with red skin in dark robes raise a metal sword over Ahsoka's still body. Fueled by the Force, Anakin made a tremendous jump to block the man's blade as it fell. "You will not hurt her." He said in a threatening growl. The red-skinned man looked up at him, surprise in his yellow eyes.

"Well now, looks like the Chosen One has finally decided to show up." The man said. Anakin forced his blade up and away as the man followed suit, both of them spinning away from each other.

"So I suppose you are the one behind all those Separatist victories." Anakin said.

"Yes, Skywalker. I am Darkover. It is an honor to finally meet you in person." Darkover gave a mock bow at this then returned to his guard. "I have to say, your timing was a little early. I was about to rid the galaxy of another Jedi filth. Now if you'll excuse me…" he said and stepped toward Ahsoka again. Anakin pointed his lightsaber at Darkover and moved in between him and Ahsoka.

"You will not hurt her."

"Take a look Skywalker, I already have." He sneered.

Anakin glanced down at Ahsoka; parts of her clothing were blackened and charred through. Her skin was redder than normal from the Force choking she received and there were several sizable bruises around her body.

As Skywalker glanced down, Darkover saw his opening; he rushed forward with a sideswipe to knock Anakin's lightsaber out of the way then barreled right into him, toppling him over. Anakin rolled with the blow and then kicked out, hitting Darkover a few feet back. Anakin stood up and then charged at Darkover. The two started a vicious fight, neither side giving ground. The sounds of metal and plasma colliding rung out echoing through the hall. Darkover aimed a slice at Anakin's legs then at the last moment redirected his blade up to block a blow from Skywalker. Anakin countered with a powerful downwards sweep that Darkover leaned back to avoid. Seeing an opportunity, Anakin Force pushed Darkover sending him flying backwards through the hall. Anakin used this break to check on Ahsoka. She was starting to come to and was moving slightly. _Good, she's OK._ This thought gave Anakin renewed energy and he came at Darkover. Standing up, Darkover met the charge and they stood with their blades crossed in front of them.

"Jedi." Darkover spat the word out. "You think you can stop us? We will continue to exist long after your Order is nothing but dust and ruins." They broke apart again only to strike at each other immediately. "I am one of a once proud race that brought your Order to the brink of destruction many times. "

"You're a Sith." Anakin responded.

Darkover's eyes flared. He pushed back against Anakin, forcing him to brake off this time. "I'm not just any Sith that pops up every once in a while. I am _the_ Sith. One of the last surviving Sith Purebloods in the galaxy. And I will destroy the so-called Sith Lords Dooku and his master along with your pathetic order." Darkover attacked again forcing Anakin to give more ground.

Anakin's mind reeled. _A surviving member of the Sith species? How is this possible? They were supposed to be eradicated centuries ago. _He blocked another blow from Darkover and took a step back. "Why do you want to destroy Dooku? He's a Sith and you're fighting for the Separatists as well."

Darkover advanced striking with a jab and then spun to swipe at Anakin's head. "I do not expect a Jedi to understand Sith machinations. It would take too long to explain and frankly I have better things to do right now." He lunged forward with a swift uppercut followed by a downward slash. Anakin redirected the blows away from him and retreated further. Darkover glanced over; they were right next to Tano who was beginning to come to but was still on the floor. _I need to get rid of her. I can't stand a two on one fight, _he thought. Faking another attack at Anakin, he suddenly reversed his grip on his sword and drove it straight for Ahsoka. Anakin saw this and with Force enhanced superhuman speed, powered by his desire to protect Ahsoka, bashed the sword from Darkover's hand. The sword went sailing through the hallway clattering to a stop several meters away from where the two contestants stood.

Suddenly defenseless, Darkover had one last option to defend himself: he blasted Anakin with Force Lightning. Unprepared for this type of attack, Anakin writhed in place, unnatural electricity coursing through his body. Using all of his concentration, he raised his lightsaber to intercept the lightning. The stream of electricity stopped, absorbed by the lightsaber. Darkover kept the lightning flowing making Anakin unable to advance. It was a stalemate, neither side could give less than what they were giving otherwise it would be their end.

...

Ahsoka opened her eyes. She was having a hard time breathing because her neck felt like it was partially crushed and her lungs on fire. Fighting the urge to lay on the floor and rest, she lifted her head and saw Anakin and Darkover locked in combat. Lightning was pouring from both of Darkover's hands while Anakin was using his lightsaber to block the lightning, both of them straining to end the other. The crackling of the lightning echoed up and down the hall making the sound deafening. Ahsoka pushed herself onto her knees and was over come with a coughing fit. She recovered and then used the Force to call her lightsabers to her hands. Ahsoka slowly stood up and ignited her two lightsabers and advanced toward Darkover. She stood behind him with her lightsabers raised to strike him in the back.

...

He faced Anakin, using all of his strength to conjure up the Force Lightning. Darkover was sweating from the strain of the combat. He had not planed for the girl to be here in the first place, and for her to be alive right now was endangering everything. Darkover had hoped to confront the Chosen One alone without worrying about a second Jedi, even if she is a padawan, but now that was all gone to ruin and he was barely holding his own against Skywalker. _I need to retreat now or risk fighting two Jedi,_ he thought. As soon as this crossed his mind there was a prickling in the Force: a feeling of danger. He stopped his Force lightning and dove to the side just in time to dodge two lightsabers that hummed through the empty air where he just was. He looked up and saw the young Jedi standing next to Anakin both coming at him. Darkover started worrying about his survival.

"Seems like the tables have turned, Sith." Anakin said. He lunged forward again and Darkover rolled out of the way, and had to Force push Ahsoka to avoid an attack by her. Using the Force, Darkover called his sword to him and then reached down and ignited his own lightsaber, which cast a bloody red glow on the surroundings. Holding his sword in his left dominant hand, and his lightsaber in the right, he faced the two Jedi.

"Well this is unexpected. I'm surprised at your skill young one, but that pales in comparison to your master's." Darkover looked at each one individually. "Now lets get this show started." All three charged at the same time, Ahsoka jumping overhead to attack from above, Anakin attacking head on, and Darkover dual wielding his sword and lightsaber to fight each one at the same time. They became a whirl of limbs and sabers as they dueled. Anakin formed the center of attack with Ahsoka constantly on the move around Darkover. It immediately became evident that Darkover was on the defensive against Anakin and Ahsoka and was drawing heavily on the Force, but the two Jedi weren't much better off: Anakin was weakened from the lightning and Ahsoka was struggling to get enough air to keep fighting.

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**The next chapter will decide all, a two-on-one fight with Anakin and Ahsoka V.S Darkover. Place your bets! I would but I know how this story ends, ha-ha! There is still more to go, so don't stop reading after this!**


	10. Chapter 9- Closing Scene

**Hey, we're getting to the end! This will decide who will win the battle and Bothawui: Darkover, or Anakin/Ahsoka. This will set the stage for events that happen later on in the story, but for now we have a duel to complete. **

**On another note, I've gotten close to a thousand reads on this story! Way more than I thought, so once again thank you for reading. Now back to the story. **

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The battle ended suddenly. Darkover used both his lightsabers to block Anakin then quickly deflected a slash by Ahsoka and Force pushed her away. Due to the Force induced fatigue that happens when a wielder uses it too much, Darkover was too late to completely block Anakin's slash. The tip of Anakin's blue lightsaber cut through skin and bone and made a long, 2-centimeter deep slash through Darkover's chest. He staggered back and then a blade of blue plasma erupted through his gut, spreading fire through his body. Darkover couldn't breath properly and stood there as Anakin withdrew the blade. Still standing he looked up at Anakin and hated him for everything. Anakin looked into the Red Sith's eyes and saw the hatred for him. With barely a second thought, he Force pushed Darkover. The Sith tumbled through the hallway, bounced off the bulkhead on the far wall and hit the floor. The body rolled, came to a halt, remained still and did not move after that.

Finally after what seemed like ages, the two Jedi were reunited. Still wheezing Ahsoka turned to Anakin and said, "We did it Skyguy." her voice raspy.

"Yes," said Anakin, pausing, "but we still need to help Obi-Wan and the fleet."

"We also need to get out of our predicament too." Ahsoka responded.

"Come on Snips, let's head to the bridge and destroy this ship."

Ahsoka smirked, "Somehow, I think that might be the easiest thing yet today."

...

On the bridge of the frigate, two worker droids were busy trying to open the door that the Jedi had sealed. There was still a squad and a half of super battle droids in the bridge and they were getting impatient. "How much longer?" one of them asked.

"We're working on it!" one of the worker droids answered. Turning back to the circuitry in the wall, he noticed his partner misplace one of the wires. "No, that one goes there, this one goes there!" It pointed to two different wires that were switched.

"Are you sure?" the droid asked.

"Yes, I am sure!" the first droid responded.

"OK…." The other droid switched the two wires and the door activated. "Hey it worked!" The droid pushed the 'OPEN' button and the door slid open. They were confronted with two Jedi who were standing in the doorway; both had their lightsabers lit. "Maybe we should have left that one there..." the droid said. Then it had its head cut off with a green lightsaber.

Anakin and Ahsoka made short work of the droids on the bridge and were soon standing in pieces of ex-droids. "There should be a console that has some sort of access to the data about the Separatist plans." Ahsoka said.

Anakin, who was looking through the command chair, responded saying "Look for any encrypted data. That should give us a start." But as they looked through the ship's databases, they could not find any plans whatsoever.

"It's like they didn't even have a plan to begin with." Ahsoka commented.

"Keep looking. There has to be something." Anakin said.

Just then Anakin's communicator beeped. _"General Skywalker, come in. This is Captain Rex."_

"Go ahead Rex."

_"We've captured that Tactical Droid we saw and have finished analyzing its intel. We have every step of their plan and we also have some very interesting data." _

"That's good news Rex." Anakin said expecting to hear more.

_"One step of their plan involves blowing up the frigate."_

"What?"

"What!" Ahsoka said, and then gave a chough. "What kind of crazy plan involves blowing up your own ship?" But then she remembered some of Anakin's plans and decided that it wasn't as crazy as she first thought.

"_Well sir, I'll explain more once you are back aboard the _Dauntless_. In other news, the droids have been completely forced back on our end and we have locked down their boarding hatch, so it should be safe for you to come back."_

"Thank you Rex, now can we get back to the part about blowing up the ship?"

_"Yes sir, I'll send you the activation code that their captain encoded into the ship's systems to destroy the frigate. I'll see you when you get back. Rex out."_

At that the comm channel faded and a download started which faded into a series of numbers and symbols. Anakin went over to the captain's chair and inputted the code. At that a counter appeared on every screen in the ship counting down from five minutes till self-destruction.

"Come on Ahsoka! We need to get going!" Both of them ran out of the bridge as fast as they could. They only traveled a little bit when Anakin realized that they could not get to the boarding ramp in time.

"We're not going to make it in time master!" Ahsoka called out realizing the same thing. Anakin stopped in the hallway. From what he recalled, they were very close to a set of escape pods. An idea began to form.

He activated his comm again, "Rex do you copy?"

_"Yes General. What is it?"_ replied the clone's voice.

"We aren't going to make it to the boarding ramp in time so we're going to do something different. We are taking an escape pod out of here so we need you to open the hanger doors to welcome us back."

_"Will do sir. Rex out."_

"Then let's get moving!" Ahsoka said and they both raced to the escape pod area. Upon reaching it, they reached the nearest door for a pod. "This one's empty!" Ahsoka said, looking through the small window. They both raced to the next one that, luckily for them, had a pod in it. They strapped themselves in and Ahsoka hit the 'EJECT' button. The pod blasted away from the ship and Anakin used the minimal thrusters to maneuver them into the hangar bay of the _Dauntless_. The pod hit the deck plating with a thud and settled down. Anakin hit his commlink before he unstrapped himself.

"Rex, we're onboard, get us out of here!" The _Dauntless_ separated from the Banking Clan Frigate and put some distance between them. A few seconds later, the frigate exploded sending its wreckage into the surrounding space. Soon there was nothing bigger than a few welded together pieces of metal floating in an ionized cloud of what was once the frigate.

...

Anakin and Ahsoka climbed out of the pod and a clone medical crew rushed over to them to treat their injuries. Anakin brushed off the people attempting to check him and stepped next to Ahsoka. She was the worse of the two and she was shaking slightly. "Why don't you get some rest Snips. I think the rest of us can handle anything that comes up."

Ahsoka started to refuse but suddenly she felt dizzy and felt the clones catch her. She decided to revise her response. "Sounds like a good idea Skyguy." She let herself be led by the clones to the infirmary to be patched up. As Anakin turned to head to the bridge another group of clone pilots headed towards him.

"General Skywalker!" Anakin turned and saw Odd Ball coming towards him. "All fighters are back onboard sir and are ready for the next mission sir!"

"Very good Odd Ball, I'm sure you'll get into your fighters soon enough. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get to the bridge." He left the clones and made his way to the nearest working turbolift. On the way he noticed the many bodies of dead clones and the destroyed droids that littered the wreaked corridors of the ship. _This isn't even the end yet,_ he thought as the lift sped through the decks. _We still need to help Obi-Wan's fleet and start he actual liberation of Bothawui. There's still a long ways to go._

...

He reached and entered the bridge, then went over to Rex. "What'd you got Rex?"

The clone looked up at him. His helmet was removed, so Anakin could see his brown eyes. "Well sir, we have a lot of good stuff. Apparently the commander of that frigate, named Darkover, was going to take over and use the _Dauntless_ and the _Adamant_ to launch a surprise attack on the Republic fleet by appearing to come to their aid, then attacking. To accomplish that, they were going to send a special code to the Separatist fleet so the CIS controlled ships would not be fired on by them."

"Well that's not going to happen now because Darkover is dead."

"Not necessarily sir."

Anakin looked at Rex and thought about what he meant, and then he realized what they could do. "I think I know what you're about to suggest."

"Probably." The clone smirked, "We should continue with that plan except surprise the CIS by attacking them instead."

"Good idea Rex." Said Anakin turning away to look at a holo-map. "How's the _Adamant_?"

"Their captain reported a few minuets ago that main power is up and they are ready to get underway."

"That's good. Inform them of our plan and tell him to follow suit. There may still be a way to win this fight."

Rex smiled, "Yes sir!"

Anakin hit the inter-ship comm channel. "Attention all decks. This is Anakin Skywalker. We are about to aid the Republic fleet that is attacking the shipyards. I want all stations to re-enter combat alert and wait for further orders. Skywalker out." He turned off the channel and looked through the view screen. The _Dauntless_ was beginning to turn and he saw that the _Adamant_ was also following their lead. "Let's go." He ordered, then both ships accelerated into space towards the shipyards.

Neither of the ships noticed in the floating debris of the battle a set of emergency thrusters that activated on an escape pod, propelling it into the asteroid ring of Golm out of sensor range.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Hmmm... mysterious. Anyway, Obi-Wan is getting hammered and Anakin has to rescue him once again. But now they have the enemies' plan of attack and will use it against them. Will it work?**

**As for me, finals are coming up (ugh) but I will still be posting regularly. If you have finals out there, study like I didn't do. And not last minute studying either. **

**There still are several chapters left in this story, but a slight spoiler alert: most of the major fighting is over with. There will still be a few battles, but most of the heavy-lifting is over. But that doesn't mean there is nothing interesting left, still plenty of that. And the story isn't over yet!**


	11. Chapter 10- Reunion

**Hey readers, it's time for another update. We finally get to Obi-Wan's predicament, which is that his fleet is in the process of being demolished. Darkover may be gone, but his works still remain. So it looks like Anakin needs to help Obi-Wan once again. **

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Obi-Wan braced himself as the deck of his ship shook from another laser blast. "Cody, we need to contact Master Luminara and tell her to halt her invasion fleet!"

"We can't sir!" A clone with gold color lined armor replied, "Our communications are still being jammed."

Obi-Wan grimaced "Blast! What about Anakin?"

"Still nothing. His last communication was blocked at the source and even if he wasn't being jammed we still wouldn't be able to contact him through our short range channels."

The ship shook again as one of the CIS ships blew up taking with it two squads of fighters on both sides. The battle had started as soon as they excited hyperspace next to the shipyards. They expected a Separatist ship or two and several squads of fighters, but not an entire battle fleet. Obi-Wan received a garbled message from Anakin just before they arrived, but it was too late to change anything. They showed up right in the middle of fourteen Separatist ships and were almost immediately swarmed with Vulture Droids. The two forces were almost equal in firepower but that initial attack crippled two Republic vessels and the rest sustained damage. Now it was a matter of attrition: pounding the other side until they gave up. And neither side was giving up. It was only a matter of time before one side collapses and Obi-Wan knew he was not going to be the one to do it. Too much hinged on this battle for the Republic to retreat. If it gave up, then it would signify that the Republic cannot hold onto its allies and it would lose moral and other types of support from other worlds. _And this war has gone on for far too long. _Thought Kenobi.

Another explosion shook Kenobi's ship. Just then, two blips showed up on their short-range scanners. "Sir!" called one of the clones, "It's General Skywalker! He's arrived!" Obi-Wan rushed over to look at the screen. Sure enough the I.D's of the _Dauntless_ and the _Adamant_ registered on screen.

_That's good news, _Obi-Wan thought with relief. Then, _Wait… where's The Firebird?_ "Can we open a channel?" asked Obi-Wan.

"They're close enough that our short range communications should reach them."

Obi-Wan went and pushed the command to open communications with Anakin. "Anakin, come in! Anakin!" The comm remained closed. "Anakin, are you receiving this message? If you can hear me, please respond." Only another impact blast answered him. "What's wrong with him?" Obi-Wan said to himself. He looked at the comm screen again and noticed a signal coming from the _Dauntless_ that was being transmitted to the Separatists. "What in the blazes is he doing? He's going to get himself killed!" Out of the viewport, he saw the CIS ships move to allow for the two Republic ships to join their formation. "What the…?" Obi-Wan had a pit form in his stomach. _They must be under Confederate control, that's why they're in the enemy fleet!_ He was just about to call attention to his discovery when a surprise happened.

...

On the bridge of the _Dauntless,_ Anakin could see that the battle had gone on for some time. Several carcasses of ships floated around soaking up stray turbolaser shots and both sides had taken heavy losses. "Transmit the signal to the CIS fleet and keep on course." he said. Fives responded and input the code to the transmitter and sent it to the fleet.

"Sir, General Kenobi is contacting us. Do you want to respond?" Asked Fives.

"No, that would just give us away to the Separatists."

"Uhh, sir? One of the CIS ships is contacting us." Rex said.

"Uh oh." Said Anakin. "Umm… open a channel. Maybe we can fool them into thinking we are who we are acting as."

A droid voice came over the speakers. _"Admiral Darkover, is that you?"_

All the clones looked at Anakin. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice, giving an impersonation of the Sith. "This is Darkover. What is it?"

_"Well you were gone longer than you said you would be."_ The droid's voice sounded a little nervous.

Anakin decided to improvise a bit. _After all, he is a Sith._ "Well I'm here now and unless you want to be turned into scrap metal by the Republic lets continue with the plan."

_"Y-y-yes sir. Sorry sir."_ The communication line was cut.

"Good job sir." Rex said. "I think they bought it."

"I sure hope so." Said Anakin, relaxing a bit. He noticed the CIS ships changing position and there was now a hole in the middle. "I guess that's were they want us. Let's not disappoint them." The _Dauntless _and the _Adamant_ simultaneously moved into position. Once there, Anakin gave the order to halt. "Now lets give them a surprise."

...

The two Republic ships, from the center of the Separatist fleet, rotated their turbolasers to point at the nearest ship and opened fire. Plasma shot out from their barrels straight into the hulls of their targets. Bulkheads and durasteel were melted and blasted out into space and ships began to explode from critical hits. The CIS never knew what hit them. Many of the ships were badly damaged and gave way after a few volleys and the rest were divided in their fire against the Republic fleet and the newcomers.

...

Kenobi saw the Republic ships open fire on the CIS ships, making a hole in their lines. "Now's our chance. All cruisers press forward!" The remaining ships of the fleet pushed onward. Now close enough, ships started to trade broadside shots with one another. Now fighting on two sides, the Separatist fleet collapsed. Some ships managed to retreat into hyperspace, but the rest burned to their shells. With the fleet broken, the Republic now had full access to the Bothan shipyards and the planet.

_This battle is won, but at a heavy cost, _thought Obi-Wan. Indeed many of the ruined ships were Republic, and less than half of the remains of the fleet were combat ready. "Try to hail Anakin again." This time it worked and an image of Anakin appeared. "Anakin, good to see you."

_"Likewise master."_ He replied.

"I guess we both ran into difficulties. I ran into an ambush and you seem to have lost one of your ships."

_"Yes, well, I have a good reason for that and I think you and the council will find it interesting."_ Anakin said.

Obi-Wan's interest was piqued. "Oh I'm sure it will be a fascinating tale."

_"You have no idea." _

Cody broke in. "Sir, General Luminara's task force has arrived and she is requesting communications."

"Patch her through Cody."

The hologram flickered and two new figures appeared: Master Luminara Unduli and her former apprentice, now Jedi Knight Barriss Offee, both Mirialan. _"General Kenobi, General Skywalker."_ Luminara said. _"I hope everything is going smoothly?"_

"Not quite." Obi-Wan said. "We've ran into some setbacks and have been delayed, but you can proceed with your landing on Bothawui."

_"Thank you, that is good to know. I'll be seeing you on the surface shortly."_ Luminara and Barriss both bowed and their holograms flickered off leaving only Anakin's.

"Now, lets get back to what we are supposed to be doing Anakin. You'll have all the time later to tell your story. Right now we need to secure the shipyard."

_"Yes master. I'll send our dropships over to meet yours at the yards."_ Then the holo turned off as the communication terminated.

"Well Cody, its time we completed our objective. Tell the gunships to depart once I've arrived."

"Right away sir!"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**On a side note, this chapter felt shorter than normal to me, but that's because I split it up with the next chapter because they felt better apart. So next time I update, you will find out what transpires on the shipyards. **


	12. Chapter 11- Parting Gift

**Finally, we get to the Shipyards! The whole point of the invasion in the first place. Now that Darkover is gone, there isn't much left to stop Skywalker and Kenobi from completing their objective. We're nearing the end of the story and wrapping up lose ends, but keep reading, you might miss some hints dropped in about the future. But anyway, enough of that, to the story!**

**XXXXXXXXX**

Obi-Wan exited the bridge and made his way to the hanger bay. Once there he spotted an open LAAT gunship waiting for him, and once he got on, the pilot activated the engines and departed along with seven other gunships headed towards the shipyard's port landing bay. The clone commander onboard Kenobi's ship received a comm transmission and relayed it to Kenobi. "Sir, Skywalker's forces report that they have left their ship and are heading for their landing point in the starboard hanger bay.

_So far so good, _Obi-Wan thought. His gunship along with the others passed through the force field protecting the landing bay from decompression. The ship touched down and the side doors opened, letting Obi-Wan and his clones rush out and eliminate the small amount of droids that were guarding the bay. The group then proceeded to the main command center for the shipyard and encountered only a few droids along the way. The Bothans that were stationed on the shipyard greeted the Jedi and the clones with enthusiasm and cheers. The flow against the droids intensified with the Bothans helping the Jedi and the clones with taking the shipyard. With the pincer movements of Skywalker and Kenobi, combined with the Bothan support, the droids stood no chance, and were quickly destroyed.

Within ten minutes of landing on the shipyard, all that was left was to take the command center. Kenobi and his troops rounded a corner and found Skywalker and his troops already in front of the door surrounded by destroyed droids.

"You're still a little slow Obi-Wan. We had to finish up without you." Anakin said with an amused expression on his face.

"Well you could have saved some of them for me if you felt that way." Obi-Wan retorted.

"Now what fun would that be?" Anakin replied, but as Obi-Wan walked past him, he thought about the day's events and thought, _Actually, I've had enough _fun_ today to last a week._

Obi-Wan was trying to open the command center's door, but the console wasn't responding. "Here Anakin, help me with this." Obi-Wan ignited and stabbed his lightsaber through the door and Anakin followed suit. They cut a wide hole through the door and rushed out into the command center, the clones right behind. Once again, there were only a few droids stationed there and after a very brief fight, the Republic forces had control of the shipyards. "Captain," Obi-Wan said to Rex, "how is our status?"

"Good sir," the clone replied, "we have control over the entire shipyards and all droids have been eliminated."

"Well that was easier than fighting Darkover." Anakin said to himself after they secured the center, thinking back to an hour ago.

Obi-Wan, who overheard him, looked over at Anakin with mild confusion on his face. "Who's Darkover?" He asked. Before Anakin could respond, a panel flashed and a holographic projection of a man suddenly appeared in the center of the room, covered in the same robes and weapons as the Sith Anakin fought earlier, the face still covered by the hood.

Anakin simply said "Him."

_"Greetings Jedi." _The figure in the recording said,_ "I am Admiral Darkover. If you are hearing this, it means that I have been defeated and you have recaptured the shipyards. If this is the case, I am probably dead right now and I congratulate you on besting me. However, just because I am dead, doesn't mean that I can't still cause you harm. I have rigged the shipyard's reactor to blow up five minutes after this recording ends. Consider it revenge, and hopefully you will die along with your troops. One day the Sith will rule the galaxy. Until then, farewell."_ At that the hologram faded and a timer counting down replaced it.

Anakin looked over at Kenobi and said "Does that answer your question?" At that, alarms started to sound around the shipyards and consoles started displaying their problems.

"We can talk about this later, right now we need to get to the reactors!"

Both of the Jedi rushed out with Anakin pausing to say, "Rex, see what you can do to stop those reactors from destroying themselves!"

"Will do sir!" Rex said, but Anakin was already down the hall out of earshot. "Alright," he said to the clones around him, "we need to find out what the problem is so we can help the generals once they get down there. Burns, check the shipyard's power levels and try to keep them steady. Cut, look after the pressure systems and make sure nothing goes critical. Yorand, watch the processors of the shipbuilding machines, they might malfunction and cause the reactors to blow. Everyone else, search around for ways to shut down the reactors. Let's move!"

...

Obi-Wan and Anakin rushed down the hallways of the shipyard passing by clones and Bothans who were trying to evacuate. The Jedi knew there was not enough time to get everyone evacuated so their best hope was speed. After going down several floors, the duo finally made it to the reactor room door… which was blocked by a ray shield.

Anakin spoke into his commlink "Rex! I need you to shut down the ray shields around the reactor!"

_"Copy that."_ A few seconds later the shield disappeared and the Jedi entered the room. The main reactor room was cylindrically shaped with wires and pumps crisscrossing the walls and celling. In the center there was a large power core that powered the entire yards, and connected to that was a vast web of circuitry and pipes with a lone console. Immediately upon entering they felt the heat.

"Feels like the coolant systems are offline." Obi-Wan said.

"Agreed. Rex we need you to tell us how to turn the coolant system back online."

_"We noticed that from up here sir. You need to turn it back on manually; the systems have been remotely disabled and we can't access them. Go to the main console and start the system warm up procedure."_

As they went over to the console, Anakin noticed that the procedure would take longer than they had. "There's no time for the warm up, we have to a cold start on the system!"

_"But sir, I should warn you that that in itself could destroy the shipyards if you get the pressure wrong!"_

"We have no time for debate, Captain!" Obi-Wan said through the comm, "We need to do it now!"

_"Yes sir. Open the valves under the console to the left, then at the same time, initiate the cold start system."_ Obi-Wan reached down under and used the Force to open all of the valves at once, while Anakin started the system.

Rex, on the other end of the channel was looking at a diagram that showed the current system status. He saw that the system hadn't overloaded yet and gave the next step. "Now regulate the flow of coolant into the system. Start slowly otherwise the pressure will tear itself apart."

Anakin saw the knob that did that and slowly eased up the dial, keeping a good look at the rate of pressure. "It's going too slow! I need to increase the pressure!"

"No Anakin!" Obi-Wan said "You could put this entire facility at risk!"

"It's already at risk! Besides, I know it can handle it. I can do this. " Anakin turned the dial faster and lights and alarms went off.

_"The reactor is overheating! Thirty seconds till it overloads!"_ Rex exclaimed. Sirens all over the shipyards changed pitch due to the nature of the sudden change of pressure. Clones and the native Bothans rushed to get off the shipyards into any vehicle that could fly. Panic swept over the facility as the Bothans especially panicked, not having the extensive training the clones had.

Obi-Wan looked around and saw that one of the pipelines was buckling from the pressure and was bulging out. He reached out with the Force and held the pipe's metal in place, but other things were giving way. "Anakin! Help me!"

Anakin, deeming that the pressure was right, turned around and also used the Force to hold pieces of the reactor together. The reactors were about to go critical and Anakin barely heard Rex through his commlink say, "Ten seconds left!" But with only three seconds left, the console glowed green with the systems coming back online and reasserting themselves. The pressure and the reactor temperature dropped almost immediately, saving the station. Anakin and Kenobi both relaxed, the crisis averted, and they checked on the status of the reactor.

"Reactors took a beating and there is heavy buckling around the entire thing, but they are working fine now." Anakin said. "There is no risk of them blowing up now."

"Good. I didn't want to be blown up today anyway." Obi-Wan said.

"Rex, how are things up there?"

_"Everything's fine now General. Whatever you did worked. All systems are green lighted."_

"That's good to hear Rex. We'll be coming back shortly. Skywalker out." Anakin looked over at Obi-Wan as they both left. "Well, that went better than I thought it would."

"It's a good thing that you are so impulsive;" Obi-Wan said, "we were saved by your recklessness twice today. Although, let's try to avoid a third time, shall we?"

"Fine by me, Master. I'm looking forward to some quiet after today."

"That's a first. I imagine you must have had quite the adventure, seeing that you lost one of your ships and were practically invited in by the Separatist fleet, not to mention you seem to know this Separatist commander…. Err, what's his name again?"

"Darkover."

"Yes, him. Quite an interesting man, isn't he?"

"You don't know the half of it."

"Care to explain?"

Anakin looked around. He and Kenobi were walking among relieved Bothans and clones towards the command center and Anakin felt that, although they were not part of the Separatists, he could not talk about it here in the open. "Not now." He said to Obi-Wan. "Later, during the debriefing."

"You know, this might be the first time you wanted to be debriefed."

"Well, there's a first time for everything isn't there."

"Indeed."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Well, that crisis got averted and it proves even in death that Darkover can still be a pain. The shipyards have been secured and Bothawui is now being 'liberated' by the Republic. Next time we will be on the planet finding out how things are going down there. **

**On another note, finals are done for me so now I can get to Christmas shopping, ****hoo-boy.**


	13. Chapter 12- Coordination

**Hey-oh! Another update for another day. The last time, the shipyards were almost destroyed due to a contingency plan by Darkover. With that problem solved, the Jedi have moved down to the actual planet (finally!) Once again, no major fighting in these last chapters, but important foreshadowing happens. **

**Enough talking, here's the chapter.**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

An hour had passed since the reactor incident and the Jedi plus most of the clones were back on their cruisers leaving only a small detachment on the shipyard for use as a temporary base of communications and supplies for the invasion of Bothawui. Repair teams of Bothans had repaired the reactor core from the damage it sustained, but were not ready to reactivate it just yet, for safety reasons. While the Bothans were relieved that the Jedi saved the shipyard, there was some grumbling of how one occupying army just replaced another and nothing had changed. Obi-Wan made a note of this after he left the shipyards and returned to his cruiser. Most of the Republic fleet was still in orbit around Bothawui after the battle, with the exception of Luminara's forces on the planet.

Anakin had just left to help with the liberation of the world. "Always on the move." Obi-Wan had said after he left, but there was not much he could do about it. He had told Anakin to contact him once he had landed which should be right about…

A hologram of Skywalker accompanied by General Luminara appeared on the bridge. _"Skywalker here, reporting as you suggested."_ He said in a dry tone.

_"Master Luminara, also reporting."_ She said politely.

"Good to see you master. How's the battle for the capital city Drev'stam?"

_"Actually the battle is over and the Republic controls the city now."_ Luminara said.

"What? So quickly?"

"_Indeed. There weren't many droids guarding the city and once we broke through the outer defenses, there wasn't much left to do except cleanup."_

Anakin chimed in. _"Our forces around the planet have also completed most of their objectives and are nearing the end of their missions. The planet should be ours by the end of the day."_

"Well, this is a nice change of events. This invasion started off so precariously that I'm now beginning to think it was just a bluff, that the Separatists really didn't intend on holding Bothawui in the first place."

_"That is one way of looking at it Master Kenobi."_ Luminara thoughtfully responded, _"But I prefer to think of it as they haven't had a chance to really situate themselves here and gain a foothold."_

Obi-Wan noticed Anakin looked deep in thought. "Anakin, what's troubling you?"

Anakin was broken from his thoughts and looked at Obi-Wan from his holoprojector on the surface. _Well here goes nothing,_ he thought. "Is this line secure?" He asked Master Luminara. When she nodded, Anakin proceeded with his story. "I believe that the Separatist commander, Darkover, was convinced that he could stop our fleets and our landings with the forces that he had. We captured a Super Tactical Droid that held most of the plan that Darkover had.

"That's how I was able to come to your aid Master." He said to Kenobi. "His plan was to bottle up your fleet so that you would be distracted from his other actions. He personally led a Baking Clan frigate against my three ships. Darkover managed to disable the _Adamant_, and destroy the _Firebird_, with the use of his fighters and his single ship. He then attempted to capture the _Dauntless_ and planed to capture the _Adamant_ as well to attack your fleet. He would have succeeded if Ahsoka and I hadn't stopped him."

Anakin paused, unsure how to reveal this next piece of information. _"That seems like a lot of work for one person, even for an admiral. Is there more?" _Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes there is. Ahsoka and I boarded his ship to capture him, but during a battle with him I learned something: he was a Sith."

Obi-Wan and Luminara looked surprised. "Are you sure, Skywalker, that he was a Sith?" Luminara asked.

"Without a doubt Master. He displayed extensive Force powers during our duel, and I felt the dark side clinging to him. He also appeared to be what I believe a member of the original Sith species. "

Luminara was visibly surprised. "I thought the Sith species died out thousands of years ago."

_"Apparently not."_ Obi-Wan said. _"Perhaps he was the master of Count Dooku that we have been looking for. The Sith seem to be following their tradition of only having two Sith at a time, and it would make since that a member of the Sith species would be involved in this whole war."_

Anakin shook his head. "I don't think so. He displayed intense distain for both Dooku and his master. And besides, the two Sith doesn't seem to apply now in this war. Remember Obi-Wan, you recently just faced both Darth Maul and Savage Oppress, not to mention Ventress is still running around. And besides, I think a Sith master would have been a little harder to kill."

_"You mean that he is dead?"_

"Yes, Ahsoka and I killed him onboard his ship right before it was destroyed. I doubt that even a Sith lord could survive being stabbed and blown up with his ship."

_"You must not underestimate the Sith Anakin, they have a habit of surviving even the most extreme wounds, as exemplified by Maul. I'll conduct a search of the wreckage of your battle and see if anything comes up." _

"There won't be much. The _Firebird_ was the only one that had some wreckage left; the frigate basically atomized."

_"Well if there is anything, I'm sure to pick it up. In the meantime Master Luminara, we still have a planet to free."_

"Quite right, Master Kenobi. I will continue my campaign with the help of General Skywalker. In the meantime, farewell." She bowed and Anakin gave a slight nod to Obi-Wan, who responded with a bow of his own, then the communication ended. "Well, that was interesting news." She said to Anakin. "But now we need to concentrate on liberating this planet from the Separatists."

"Considering the latest reports, that won't take long." Anakin said.

"Indeed. You would think that a Sith would command more forces than the ones here."

As if on cue, the holoprojectors lit up as another transmission came in, this time from Barriss Offee. _"Master,"_ She said to Luminara, _"my forces have a slight problem. We have almost reached our objective, but we find ourselves blocked by a droid fortress. We have attacked it several times, but we were forced back each time. I need reinforcements in order to take the building and proceed on to capture the city of Briel."_

Luminara pulled up a holo of the building Offee was describing. It was indeed a fortress, armed with turrets and two full garrisons of droids. There was no way Offer's current forces could take that building and still reach the objective. "I see your predicament Barriss." Luminara went through the list of supplies and soldiers that were given to Barriss. "However, you were given a full squad of AT-TE's, am I correct?"

_"Yes Master. The tanks were held in reserve. What are you suggesting?"_

"You received those tanks for this exact sort of scenario. If you cannot take the fortress, then you will have to destroy it."

Barriss paused before answering, _"The fortress in question is right in the middle of a dense area of buildings. Destroying it would cause a great amount of collateral damage to the surrounding area."_

"While I understand and sympathize with your predicament, I believe that there is no other option. You understand your orders?"

_"Yes master, I will order my tanks to destroy the fortress."_ She said and bowed to end the transmission.

Anakin stepped forward next to Luminara, who leaned against the projector table. "It is unfortunate that we need to cause such damage to complete our mission." She said to him.

"Indeed it is." Anakin replied. "However if it helps us win this war, then that is the price we must pay."

"Is it our price Skywalker?" She asked, the weariness of two and a half years of war in her voice.

"I believe it is." Anakin firmly said.

She sighed, "I miss the times when we Jedi were peacekeepers instead of Generals."

"It was simpler." Anakin replied.

"It feels like it was, but we cannot dwell on the past." Luminara's voice returned to the stronger confident tone, and she recovered her upright stance. "We must focus our attention right now on winning this battle."

Anakin pressed a few buttons on the holoprojector and the picture changed to a scale version of Bothawui. "According to our forces, we control over eighty percent of the planet." He said, pointing to the projection. Most of the image was green, symbolizing Republic forces, while a few isolated pockets were red for the CIS forces. "It won't take much longer to secure our victory."

"We need to concentrate our efforts on rooting the droids out of the remaining cities. After that, they should be easy targets." As Luminara said that, another red section turned green: Barriss had destroyed the fortress and taken the city of Briel. "Now even more easy."

"Without any real commander, those droids are uncoordinated and will fall apart soon." Anakin said.

"Good, this invasion is almost at an end."

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

**And with that, this story is almost at an end. Only about three more chapters left and it's over. But don't blink or you might miss something! **


	14. Chapter 13- Lost and Not Found

**Hey Readers! This chapter is kind of a shorty, but that's because I split it up from the next chapter, otherwise it would have been too long for my tastes. Anyway, I don't have much to say this time so enjoy!**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

One might say that Obi-Wan Kenobi was a cautious person. While this may be true from a certain point of view, it would be better to say that he thought, planned and strategized before acting. This is what had gotten him the title "The Negotiator", being able to resolve issues peacefully without violence. He also liked to be thorough, which is why he was onboard his ship examining the leftover wreckage of Anakin's space battle to be sure of Darkover's demise. But easier said than done. Four hours had passed since the battle and Anakin was right; all that was left was the floating wreckage of the _Firebird_ and a few chunks of the frigate.

"Have the scanners picked up anything else?" Obi-Wan asked the scanning officer.

"No sir." The clone replied, "And the wreckage droids we sent out haven't detected anything either."

"Any engine emission trails?"

"Only very faint ones, and those are the ones probably created by the capital ships. Any weaker trails would have disappeared long ago: shuttles, fighters, and the like."

Obi-Wan sighed. He'd expected as much. The scanners had been running nonstop since they had arrived. Obi-Wan had also periodically reached out with the Force to sense anything. The only thing he felt was a ghost of a dark presence, and that was most likely left by this Darkover person before he died.

...

Obi-Wan was interrupted from his thoughts when he received an incoming message from an inbound Republic shuttle. It had a senatorial I.D. and the message claimed that they had senator Polo Se'lab onboard.

"Senator, what an unexpected pleasure." Obi-Wan said once he had responded to the signal. The hologram projected a fairly young Bothan man considering his position. He was dressed in traditional Bothan robes and had two clones flanking him.

_"I would think it would be less than unexpected, General Kenobi, and definitely not pleasurable."_ Se'lab replied in a moderately curt voice, _"It is my home world that had been invaded and attacked once again after all."_

"Yes, a poor choice of words on my part Senator." Obi-Wan apologized. "What brings you here in the middle of this conflict?"

_"I wish to visit my home world and support my people."_

"I mean no disrespect Senator, but your home world is currently an active war zone. I must disagree with your decision."

_"I know you mean no disrespect General, but I have been watching your battle reports. I know that there is little chance of me being injured if I land."_

Obi-Wan relented; he knew the facts as well and the Senator was right. "Very well, but I wish to provide you with an escort for safety reasons."

_"I will expect them soon then."_ And at that, the transmission ended.

...

Immediately another signal came in, this time from the _Dauntless_.

_My my, we are popular today_. Obi-Wan also accepted this transmission, and an image of Ahsoka appeared. "Ahsoka, so glad to see you. How are your injuries?"

_"Fine Master, nothing too serious. I've been released from the med bay and was wondering if there was something easy I could do._" Even from the hologram, Obi-Wan could tell she was tired, from the voice and how she stood.

"Shouldn't you have contacted Anakin to ask him for something?"

She gave a little smirk. _"I tried, but instead I got master Luminara. She said that Anakin went off to another combat zone. She assumes that communications have been jammed, but she says that the jamming shouldn't last long, especially if Anakin is there."_

Obi-Wan internally sighed, _That sounded like Anakin all right, rushing off into a fight_. "Well, not much can be done about that unfortunately. However, I do have something you can do. Senator Polo Se'lab has recently arrived in this sector and wants to land on the surface. I want to provide him with an escort. Feel up to joining them?" He asked.

_"Certainty Master. I'll get in my fighter right away."_

"I'll send a few additional fighters as well. I'll see you shortly." Obi-Wan ended the transmission. He looked out the window into space for a moment, and then coming to a decision, turned to Commander Cody and said, "I don't think we'll get anything else here. Recall the wreckage droids and set our course back for Bothawui."

"Yes sir." He replied and the ship soon left the wreckage and Golm behind, floating in the infinite blackness of space.

...

Inside her fighter, Ahsoka felt more in control of her life than in the past several hours. Here, she could tell her fighter where to go, and it would go. She could move where she wanted without running into anything. Space was a vast open field that she could run in forever….

_But we can't run away from our problems forever either,_ Ahsoka thought. Although she didn't admit it, that Sith, Darkover, had scared her. She had faced numerous challenges before like General Grievous or Asajj Ventress. Grievous was a cyborg, responsible for the deaths of many Jedi, and Ventress was a Dark Side user who had also killed Jedi. While she might have had some fear fighting them, she managed to force it down and fight them.

But Darkover was something different. Grievous may have killed Jedi before, but he was only a cyborg with no Force powers. Ventress, on the other hand could use the Force, but she apparently had not fully given herself to evil, or so Obi-Wan had said. Darkover though…. he was more than just a Dark Side user, he was a true Sith. The way he controlled the battle from the start was impressive, she had to admit, and events almost went in his favor. But Anakin saved her and they both defeated Darkover.

But if Anakin hadn't shown up, she would be dead right now. He was a superior opponent, but the way he forced his way into her mind and how he managed to completely overcome her made Ahsoka pause. How far had she come as a padawan? Was there still more to learn?

_Yes there is,_ Ahsoka realized. _The Force is a source of infinite knowledge and wonder, and holds many secrets. Not even Master Yoda knows everything._ She shuddered internally, thinking about the abilities Darkover used. _Some secrets however, should remain secrets._

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**However, I will reveal this secret: there will be a sequel to this story. I'm in the process of writing it right now and it's already longer than this story and I'm not even sure if I'm at the halfway point yet! Anyway, I'm not doing spoilers now so you just have to wait for it! (Sorry.) **

**On the plus side, only two more chapters left!**


	15. Chapter 14- Battle Damage

**Time for another update! This time Ahsoka is who we focus on and how she sees things about the battle. Remember that she is a Commander in the Republic army and has been through many battles, so there should be nothing to surprise her. But other characters here might not have and see things differently from her point of view. Well anyway, I'll let you read for yourself.**

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Her comm beeped, startling Ahsoka back into her cockpit. She realized that she was close to the rendezvous with Obi-Wan's fighter escort and the Senator's shuttle. She answered the signal and the senator's image appeared on her console. "Greetings Senator, I am Commander Tano, here to provide your escort."

_"Thank you Commander. I wish to visit the city of Briel first. It is home to several important families and I want to show my support for them during this difficult time." _

_A true politician_, Ahsoka thought deep inside her. "Of course Senator," She said, "as you wish." The transmission ended and Ahsoka took the lead of the escort party surrounding the shuttle. They neared Bothawui and soon entered the planet's atmosphere.

As they came to their destination, there was a tower of smoke that rose from the ground to meet them, coming from the city. _Looks like there was one massive fight there. _The party flew closer and Ahsoka could see that the smoke was coming from one big building near the city center, surrounded by several AT-TE walkers. Ahsoka and the shuttle both landed on a platform in the city, while the fighters, rose up and assumed a high altitude standby pattern. Ahsoka opened her cockpit and stepped out into the sunlight. The shuttle door opened and two senate guards came out, followed by Se'lab and another two guards.

Ahsoka went over to introduce herself. "Senator, a pleasure to meet you in person."

Se'lab replied with a grin, which highlighted the rippling of his fur. "I wish our meeting could have been under more pleasant circumstances. Now, if you will follow me." He headed off towards the city's center with Ahsoka and his guards following.

They passed by many Bothans and Se'lab talked to a few of them concerning their wellbeing. Ahsoka took in the many sights of this city. The droid occupation had not done much to change the lifestyles of the Bothans, stores were reopening and decorations were being put out again. But as they continued, they faced the first real sight of the battle: destroyed droids were stacked in a pile in the middle of an open square. The buildings around the square showed signs of damage and there was rubble in the street. A few clones were picking up some of the damage when they passed by. The clones gave a quick salute to which Ahsoka replied back by nodding to them. She noticed that Se'lab kept his eyes forward, ignoring the clones.

...

The billowing smoke tower was closer now and the Republic presence was stronger here. Buildings were heavily damaged and the wounded, both Bothans and clones, were lying on makeshift cots until better aid came. Moving among the wounded was Jedi Knight Barriss Offee, using her special healing abilities to take care of the injured.

"Barriss!" Ahsoka called out.

Barriss looked up and saw Ahsoka. She waved then went back to healing the Bothan she was tending to. When she finished, she got up and went over to Ahsoka. "Ahsoka, it's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too." Ahsoka realized that she needed to introduce Barriss to the Senator and looked around for him, but Se'lab was ahead of them looking out onto the next street. His fur was rippling so much that it looked like he was in a heavy wind. As the two Jedi went over, Ahsoka saw what he was looking at. There was what was once a building there, or she assumed, judging from the amount of rubble in the crater. Pieces of metal and stone were strewn throughout the street and the surrounding area, some sticking out of buildings from where they were flung. Fires inside the pit were what was causing the smoke, and they seemed to have died down a bit due to the amount of residual charcoal. AT-TE walkers were still in the street and clone troopers were moving from place to place cleaning up the ruins.

Ahsoka had seen such things in her time during the war and was used to it, but she realized that the senator had not. The rippling of his fur had subsided a bit, and Ahsoka felt this would be the best time to introduce Barriss. "Senator, this is Barriss Offee, Jedi Knight."

Barriss bowed, "A pleasure to meet you."

Se'lab ignored this. "I assume that you led the attack on this city."

Barriss looked slightly confused, unsure where this was going. "Uhh, yes I did."

"Do you know what this used to be?" Se'lab asked. Without waiting for a response, he answered his own question. "A museum. Filled with many wonders of our world, our past, and reminders for the future." He sighed. "Now, it's a hole in the ground, burned, and ruined." He turned to Offee, "I hope there was a reason that this had to happen."

Barriss looked Se'lab in the eyes. "Yes, there was. It was transformed into a fortress, and we could not retake the city without destroying it."

"But _could_ you have captured it without destroying it?"

"We didn't have enough troops to capture it, Senator."

"What about reinforcements? Special equipment?"

"Master Luminara decided that destroying it would be quicker and could save lives, rather than attack and take it." Ahsoka noticed that Barriss' voice seemed a little less confidant that it had a few seconds ago.

"Did she also know that by destroying it, it would cause a great amount of damage to the area around it, not to mention the fact that is was a museum?"

Now Barriss looked away, slightly ashamed. "I did bring it up with her, yes."

"And she still ordered you to attack." Se'lab shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder if you Jedi have lost sight of what is important in this war."

Ahsoka stepped in to save her friend. "I think that Master Luminara did the right thing." She said to Se'lab, who turned to look at her. "If Barriss tried to capture the fortress, there would have been a great many casualties. In her wish to save lives, Luminara made the tactical decision."

Se'lab looked at Ahsoka, his face in a look of thought. "I know this is war, Commander, and sacrifices must be made. I might have done the same in her position, but look around." He said, motioning to the ruined buildings, "Now many people must live without a home until they recover, and they won't be happy about it. The Separatists didn't destroy our homes, and although they took over our planet, the people felt very little impact.

"By 'freeing' our planet, the Jedi have actually caused more harm than good. While I don't question that you have good intentions, it's your methods and results that make people believe the Jedi aren't fit for military leadership." He paused. "I do believe in the Jedi and their desire for peace, I really do. But as circumstances would have it, we are opposites on this. I mean do disrespect for the Jedi, but the Bothan people may not see it the way I do." He finished, then turned and left with his guards, leaving Ahsoka and Barriss behind.

...

Barriss sighed. Ahsoka looked at her with pity in her eyes. "Hey, you had to do what you needed to do. You can't blame yourself for what happened." She said.

"I know Ahsoka, but what the senator said had some truth. I didn't want to destroy the museum. I would have tried to take it, and not cause such damage, if not for my orders."

"But you followed them, and you won. You freed this city and helped free Bothawui from the Separatists."

Barriss looked up at Ahsoka and smiled. "You're right Ahsoka. I did what was right. No use changing it now." She paused, "Thank you for that."

"Anytime." Ahsoka looked over. Polo Se'lab was quite a distance away observing the wreckage. "I better go back to the senator. I'll see you around Barriss." And Ahsoka jogged over to the senator.

Barriss waved and let her hand slip down to her side, the smile on her face disappearing. _Did I do what was right?_ She thought, _Sometimes I don't know_. Then duty called her back and she returned to the wounded.

...

Ahsoka went with the senator to several other cities before he left to return to Coruscant. While the other cities hadn't sustained as much damage, there were still areas that were rubble. Se'lab had grown increasingly agitated, as shown by his fur. After visiting the last city, and before they left, he spoke to Ahsoka.

"I thank you Commander Tano, for your company. I wish to thank the Jedi and the Republic for your efforts to rid our planet from the Separatists."

"You are most welcome, Senator." Ahsoka said.

"However, it is my intention to return us to our neutrality that we held from the beginning."

That was a surprise to Ahsoka. "Even after the Separatists invaded?" She said with some disbelief in her voice.

"Yes, even after that. I never supported allying with the Republic and wished to remain neutral during this conflict. But the people, once official details of the first invasion were released, wished for this alliance. After today, I will go to the Bothan Council to state my case for returning to neutrality, before returning to Coruscant."

"I wish you would reconsider your position Senator."

Se'lab's fur rippled in slight amusement. "I have heard that many times Commander. Once more will not change my mind. But I do not want our opposing beliefs to stand in the way of any friendship between us and the Republic. Once the war is over, Bothawui will begin anew with the Republic."

"Then let's hope for a quick end then." Ahsoka said.

"I share that hope. Farewell." Se'lab entered his shuttle and they took off, leaving Ahsoka next to her fighter on the platform.

...

_Well that was…interesting._ She thought, for lack of a better word. _We definitely have differing views, but everyone is entitled to their own beliefs._ Ahsoka climbed inside her fighter and headed back for the _Dauntless_. Several hours had passed since she started her escort duty and she felt extremely tired. _And it hasn't even been a full day yet since I fought Darkover. I could use some rest._ She promised herself to stay awake until she was in her quarters, and then crash on her bed. She gave a signal to the _Dauntless_ to be let aboard and landed inside the hanger bay. The sight of her master greeted her as she climbed out of her fighter.

"So you're back. Had a good time Snips?" Anakin asked.

"It wasn't as bad as it could have been. At least nobody was shooting at us."

"That's because they were busy shooting at me instead." He said light-heartedly.

"Aren't they always shooting at you?"

"Well yes, but at least it wasn't at you or the senator."

"It's a good thing you didn't have any trouble out there, I might not have been able to rescue you… again." They both started walking away from the fighter to the turbolift.

"Hey, I haven't needed any of your rescues for quite some time as I recall."

"Eh, you've been lucky."

"Luck had nothing to do with it." Anakin said. They both entered the turbolift and were sent speeding through the decks of the ship. Anakin looked at Ahsoka, "Now, why don't you get some rest. You look exhausted."

"I sure could use some." She hit a button, which stopped the lift and opened the doors. Ahsoka got off to go to her quarters. "Let me know if anything important happens."

"I will." Anakin said, then the turbolift doors closed shut. Anakin smirked to himself and restarted the lift, heading for the bridge.

...

"How is everything Rex?" Anakin said once he stepped onto the bridge.

"Everything going according to plan sir." Rex replied. "All non-essential personnel are back onboard, and General Luminara is finishing up on the planet."

"Very good. What's Obi-Wan's status?"

"He's returned from his examination of the wreckage and reports that he has found nothing. He is ready to get underway to Coruscant."

"Then set a course for Coruscant then."

"Yes sir!"

...

The _Dauntless_ and the _Adamant_ turned simultaneously and activated their hyperdrives. A split second later, they vanished into the fold of hyperspace, leaving behind only their ion trails. Several thousand kilometers away, what was left of Obi-Wan's fleet did the same thing, both fleets traveling to Coruscant.

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**I tried to make this chapter something of a growing experience for Ahsoka. She may have fought battles before but never really stuck around to see the aftermath of most of them. Like her master, she moves on, never staying in one place for long. This has somewhat shielded her from the realities of rebuilding after an invasion/battle, but she has seen enough to understand the difficulties. This is the first time she truly goes in after the fact. **

**On another note, 2,000 views! Hooray! Thank you for reading this once again!**

**Ok, I've blabbed on enough. Until next time, for the conclusion of Part One!**


	16. Chapter 15- Jedi Debriefing

**Well, this is it, the last chapter. We've all seen Darkover, but now the Jedi Council will do it's normal politicking about the Sith. Not much to say, so here it is.**

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Two days later, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Barriss were all standing in the circle in front of the Jedi Council. Some masters, such as Plo-Koon and Saesee Tin, were attending via hologram transmission from the various fronts. But most of the council was physically present in the tower. Obi-Wan and Luminara had already given their reports, so they were not standing with the others, and instead were sitting in their seats on the Council.

This meeting was called to report on the results of the Bothan invasion, but had quickly moved to other topics. Once Anakin said that Darkover was a Sith, the council murmured with disbelief and surprise.

"Are you sure that Darkover is a member of the Sith species" Mace Windu asked.

"Yes Master. The physical traits he had matched almost exactly with ancient Jedi records of the Sith species, or at least the traits of their descendants." Anakin said.

"Disturbing it is, that any knowledge of living members of the Sith species we did not have." Grand Master Yoda said. "Find out where he came from, we must."

"Indeed," Obi-Wan said, "if he is as powerful as Anakin and Ahsoka claim, we must find out if there are others of his kind who are as dangerous as him."

"Dangerous, all Sith are, Master Kenobi."

Ahsoka spoke up. "From what Darkover said, there is a high chance there are still some original Sith in the Galaxy."

"Said this, he did?" Yoda asked.

"More like implied Master. He was prideful of his heritage."

"He further said that he was _one_ of the last purebloods," said Anakin, "so there must be more of them."

Yoda sighed. "Troubling this is. Discover more, we must."

"I agree." Windu said. "But this must be kept a secret. If word of a living Sith member working for the Separatists spreads, it could ignite even more terror in the people. The last time the Sith Purebloods threatened the Republic, they almost destroyed it. We cannot allow that threat to exist, not now."

"If we are going to keep this a secret, then what should we tell the Chancellor about the commander of the Separatist forces?" Anakin said, "Darkover was a military leader of the Separatists and reason that we lost so many systems. The Chancellor should be informed about his existence."

"Master Skywalker does bring up a point." Said Luminara, "The Chancellor will eventually learn of Darkover's existence. It would be better for us to bring this information to Palpatine instead of him learning it from someone else and making it look like we were keeping something from him."

Mace Windu sighed, "You're right Master Unduli. The Chancellor will learn from another source eventually. Skywalker," He said catching Anakin's attention, "you should be the one to tell Palpatine. After all, you are the one who fought Darkover."

"Of course Master."

"In the meantime, we should proceed to find any leads as to where this Sith came from."

_"Unfortunately, Skywalker has killed the only lead that we had."_ Plo-Koon said from his hologram. Anakin grimaced as Plo-Koon continued, _"You did what was necessary Anakin, but I fear that if we pursue this matter, we will wind up wasting valuable resources and end up at a literal dead-end." _

"I unfortunately have to agree with you Master Plo." Ki-Adi-Mundi said. "As much as we should attend to this, we have few qualified Jedi available for this type of mission, and there are more pressing matters concerning the war."

"I agree with Master Plo as well." Luminara said.

"Very well. We will discuss this at a later date if any more information reaches us." Mace looked at Anakin, Ahsoka, and Barriss. "For now, you three have a short break before your next missions. I suggest that you use the time to rest."

All three bowed. "Thank you Masters." Anakin said.

"You are dismissed. Council is adjourned."

...

As the members exited the council room, Ahsoka left with Anakin. "It's too bad that we don't know anything about these Sith. Most of our records on the subject are either restricted or hopelessly out of date." Ahsoka said.

"I know. I've also tried to find leads, but even I don't have access to the more important documents we hold in the archives. There might be something, but I doubt that we will find it."

"And to think that we were concerned with only two Sith a short time ago." Obi-Wan said, who had come up behind them. "It seems that our list of enemies are growing rapidly. War by its nature breeds darkness and evil, and that is the power the Sith thrive on."

"Another reason we need to end this war quickly." Anakin said.

"And unfortunately, I have another why it won't." Said Obi-Wan, "The Bothans have re-established their neutrality for this war."

Ahsoka sighed, "I was afraid that would happen. Senator Se'lab felt that the Bothans should not have gotten involved in the first place."

"Ahsoka, the Bothans have been involved from the start, just not the way you think." Anakin said.

"Meaning?" Said Ahsoka, who was in the dark.

"The Bothans have always been master spies and have used this war to gain information on both sides," Said Obi-Wan. "They believe that giving information to both sides will end this war sooner. Also leads to a nice profit for them as well, but however it's become, understandably, a security risk. I find it amazing that the Bothans allied with the Republic for as long as they did."

"Can't we do more?" Ahsoka asked.

"Unfortunately, we've already done as much as we can. It's now an internal affair of the Bothan Council and we can't become involved."

"I see. So we have no proof of any spies?"

"No," Anakin said, "only suspicions."

"Well we shouldn't worry about it right now. There's not much we can do at the moment anyway." Obi-Wan said.

...

They walked down the hallways of the Jedi Temple. With no place to be, Ahsoka felt a little angsty but she realized that it was caused by so much combat over a long time. _I need to relax. Maybe I'll meditate in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Or visit the Archives for more information. Or just… do nothing._ That thought was slightly puzzling to her, but she figured she could do it. _Man I've really been out fighting for a while._ "I think I'll go to my quarters and rest a bit." She said.

"Go ahead Snips, I need to go and inform the Chancellor about the Bothan Operation anyway. I'll see you when I get back." Anakin said.

"I'll see you around." Ahsoka walked away, leaving Anakin and Obi-Wan talking to each other and headed to the wing where her quarters were. Along her way, she walked past a group of younglings who were training in force powers. They were a mix of different species, ranging from human to Wookie. Ahsoka remembered her group, the Clawmouse clan, and was slightly surprised at how long ago that was. _A lot has happened since then_, she thought.

"Padawan Tano, a moment if you please."

Ahsoka stopped and turned. Standing a few meters away was Master Yoda. "Yes Master, what is it?"

"Strong in the force, you have become, padawan. And at such a young age, you have reached this. An inspiration you are, to our younger Jedi."

Ahsoka felt pride welling up in her. _Phrase from the Grand Master himself!_ She didn't let her pride overcome her modesty though. "Thank you master."

"A mission, I have for you, after your rest." He turned and looked over at the younglings practicing. "These younglings, some of our most promising they are. Almost ready, for the Gathering, they are. Lead them on this journey, I would like you to, when the time has come, yes."

Ahsoka smiled and bowed slightly. "It would be my pleasure, Master."

"Very good. In two days time, we will head to Ilum. Until then, padawan." Yoda turned away and resumed watching the younglings. Ahsoka took her leave and resumed heading to her quarters.

...

_Two days, then I will head back to Ilum_. The Gathering, a time when younglings built their first lightsaber with the crystals they gather on the ice planet. _That will bring back some memories, returning there. I have been there twice, once for each of my lightsabers. One, several years ago. The other, not to long ago._ She thought as she entered her room and laid her lightsabers out in front of her. _Since both times, I have learned much under Anakin and have improved my skills. But there is still much to learn and so far to go._ She closed her eyes and laid out on her bed. _But for now, there is no learning to be done, no battles to fight. Now it's time to rest._ With that thought, Ahsoka drifted off into a meditative sleep and left the day behind her.

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**That's the end. I really had a fun time writing this and I want to thank all of you for reading this and your reviews. But this is only the beginning! The next story in this series will be coming out (hopefully soon, but it's longer than this one and I'm not even halfway yet :s ) Anyway, keep a look out for ****Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Machinations [The Red Sith, Part Two],**** the next part. **

**This is OrangeGalen, signing off for the time being. **


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